The Study of Genetic Counseling for Pregnant Women

Genetic counseling is defined as a process related to human issues, which investigates the probability ofoccurrence and recurrence of genetic disorders in a family. Main purposes of genetic counseling includeunderstanding scientific information about the disease, duration of illness, risk of disease recurrence, andnecessary facilities for prenatal diagnosis of the disease. This study is aimed at emphasizing the importance ofprenatal genetic counseling in order to prevent the recurrence of genetic diseases. During 6 months this crosssectionalstudy was performed in state and private hospitals with Obstetrics and Gynecology ward. Required datawas collected using a questionnaire that asked about age, family history of genetic disease, children history ofgenetic disease, relative couples, history of abortion, history of infertility, previous contact with medications,history of CXR and CT. Out of 500 patients, only 160 needed genetic counseling. Among common indications forgenetic counseling and also those who referred for prenatal diagnosis of the disease, relative couples had thehighest frequency. Finally, the results showed that only 7.8% of admitted pregnant women had a history ofprenatal genetic counseling. According to the increasing frequency of genetic diseases in society, the couples whoare at risk of giving birth to infants with genetic disorders must be advised to undergo genetic counseling in orderto prevent the birth of such babies.

کلیدواژه ها:

Genetic counseling ، Pregnant women ، Indication